After 1954 the Netherlands Antilles were an integral part of the Netherlands, with full autonomy in internal affairs. The island of Aruba, which lies to the west of Curaçao and Bonaire, had initially been part of the Netherlands Antilles, but in 1986 it seceded from the federation to become a separate Dutch territory. In 2006 the Dutch government and the remaining five islands agreed to dissolve the Netherlands Antilles within the following several years. The event took place on October 10, 2010. None of the islands chose full independence. Curaçao and Sint Maarten became autonomous countries within the kingdom, a status similar to that of Aruba. Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius became special municipalities with closer relations to the central government, similar to those of the municipalities in the Netherlands proper. This article discusses the Netherlands Antilles as a historical entity as it existed at the time of its dissolution.

Land

Relief

The southern islands are generally low in elevation, though hills rise to 787 feet (240 metres) at Brandaris on Bonaire and 1,230 feet (375 metres) at Mount Saint Christoffel on Curaçao. The islands consist mainly of igneous rocks and are fringed with coral reefs. The northern islands consist of volcanic rocks rising to 1,119 feet (341 metres) at Sentry Hill in the Dutch part of Saint Martin, 1,198 feet (365 metres) at The Quill, an extinct volcano on Sint Eustatius, with a large forested crater, and 2,910 feet (887 metres) at Mount Scenery, an extinct volcano on Saba that is the islands’ highest point.

Curaçao, the largest island of the Netherlands Antilles, covers 171 square miles (444 square km). It is indented in the south by deep bays, the largest of which, Schottegat, provides a magnificent harbour for Willemstad. Bonaire, with an area of 111 square miles (288 square km), lies about 20 miles (32 km) east of Curaçao. Sint Eustatius covers 8 square miles (21 square km) and Saba 5 square miles (13 square km); the two form the northwestern terminus of the inner volcanic arc of the Lesser Antilles. Saba is dominated by Mount Scenery and is surrounded by sea cliffs. The villages of The Bottom and Windward Side, occupying an old crater, are approached by a steep road from a rocky landing place on the southern coast.

Drainage and soils

For the most part, the islands have barren soil and little or no fresh water. On Curaçao and Bonaire there is much bare, eroded soil, the result of centuries of overgrazing. Drinking water on these islands is obtained mainly by distilling seawater.

Climate

Temperatures in the southern islands vary little from an annual average in the low 80s F (about 27 °C), and the heat is tempered by the easterly trade winds. The islands lie west of the usual tropical cyclone (hurricane) zone. Precipitation in the south is low and variable, often less than 22 inches (550 mm) per year. The climate is similar in the northern islands, but there is more precipitation, and hurricanes are more common. The annual precipitation is greatest on Sint Eustatius and Saba, which receive averages of about 42 inches (1,000 mm) and 47 inches (1,200 mm), respectively, mainly between May and November.

Plant and animal life

The vegetation of the southern islands has been much overgrazed by livestock. Cacti and other drought-resistant plants abound. The island of Bonaire is known for its flamingos. Curaçao has many reptiles, including geckos, lizards, and sea turtles. In the northern group, Saba is noted particularly for its pristine beauty and tropical rainforest; orchids, tree ferns, and wildflowers are abundant, and the island’s sea life includes barracudas, sharks, sea turtles, and coral gardens.

People

The islands’ populations are mainly composed of “blacks” (people of African heritage) and mulattos (mixed African and European heritage) except for Saba’s, which is about evenly divided between people of African and of European (“white”) descent. Most of the islands have small white minorities. Migration to Curaçao from other Caribbean islands, Venezuela, and Europe increased after the opening of its oil refinery in 1918.

The official languages are English, Dutch, and Papiamentu, a local Spanish-based creole that includes Portuguese, Dutch, and some African words. Papiamentu is widely used in the southern islands and is taught in elementary schools. English is the principal language of the northern islands and is widely spoken in Curaçao as well; Spanish is also spoken in the south. Nearly three-fourths of the people adhere to Roman Catholicism; about one-sixth are Protestant; and there are small minorities of Spiritists, Buddhists, and Jews. Curaçao has a Sephardic Jewish community that dates from the 1650s; Willemstad has the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere.

The birth and death rates are relatively low, and the rate of natural increase is lower than on most other islands of the Caribbean. Migration to the Netherlands has tended to increase during economic downturns in the islands, such as during the late 1990s and the early 21st century. Life expectancy is in the mid-70s for males and the late 70s for females.

About four-fifths of the population is urban. The rural population of the islands is generally dispersed, and villages are scarce except on Saba. Nearly three-fourths of the inhabitants of the islands reside on Curaçao; the next two most-populous are Sint Maarten and Bonaire. Sint Eustatius and Saba account for a statistically tiny portion of the population. However, they are more densely settled than Bonaire. Sint Maarten has the highest population density.

Characteristic of Curaçao are its landhuizen, large 18th- and 19th-century rural mansions located on hills. Willemstad has some splendid sections of Dutch-style colonial architecture with tropical adaptations, painted in white and pastel colours.

Economy

Unlike most other Caribbean islands, the Netherlands Antilles seldom depended on the export of sugar or other plantation crops, which could not grow well in the dry climate of the larger islands. Instead, Curaçao (and during the 18th century Sint Eustatius) developed into a centre of regional trading and finance, activities that, together with oil refining and tourism, became the basis of the islands’ economy. Willemstad in particular became an important Caribbean banking centre. Tourism and other services becameincreasingly important throughout the islands.

Agriculture, fishing, forestry, and mining play minor roles in the economy of the islands. Curaçao has some calcium phosphate mining; salt is processed on Bonaire. Sugarcane and cotton plantations were once established on Saint Martin and Sint Eustatius. Curaçao was at one time used mainly for livestock raising, but, after the overgrazing of land, new small-scale agricultural ventures were begun, such as the cultivation of aloes for pharmaceutical products and oranges for Curaçao liqueur. Aloes are also grown on Bonaire. Fish are important to the economy of Sint Maarten. Farmers on Saba raise livestock and cultivate vegetables, particularly potatoes, which are exported to neighbouring islands.

The main industry of Curaçao is oil refining, which started with the exploitation of Venezuelan oil fields in 1914 and the opening in 1918 of an oil refinery on Curaçao. Curaçao also produces liqueurs. Bonaire has a textile factory and Sint Maarten a rum distillery. Other factories produce electronic parts and cigarettes.

Curaçao refines and reexports a major portion of the oil extracted from Venezuelan territory, and petroleum and petroleum products are the island’s main exports. The entrepôt trade in the free ports of Curaçao is also significant. Curaçao’s foreign trade is mainly with Venezuela, the United States, the Netherlands, and several countries of Central America and the Caribbean. Most of the islands’ requirements of food and commercial goods are met by imports.

The islands have extensive road systems. There are international airports at Curaçao, Bonaire, and Sint Maarten; Sint Eustatius and Saba also have airfields. Curaçao is a major point of shipping for the petroleum industry, and Sint Maarten is a leading Caribbean port of call for cruise ships.

Government and society

Prior to its dissolution in 2010, the Netherlands Antilles was a self-governing part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The head of state was the Dutch monarch, represented by a governor nominated by the local government and appointed by the crown. The head of government was a prime minister, who led a Council of Ministers. The council was responsible to the unicameral legislature (Staten), whose members were elected to four-year terms by universal adult suffrage. Beginning in 1992, education in the Netherlands Antilles was compulsory from age 6 to age 17, and the literacy rate was nearly on a par with that of the metropolitan Netherlands. Local authority was exercised by an Island Council, an Executive Council, and a lieutenant governor on each island.

Cultural life

The pre-Lenten Carnival in February and the New Year’s festivities are colourful celebrations. The Bonaire International Sailing Regatta is held every October, attracting boating enthusiasts from around the world. Many islanders also participate in martial arts, and football (soccer) and baseball are very popular. Saba, which is steep and tiny, has little flat land for athletic fields, but tennis courts there double as basketball and volleyball courts, and both men’s and women’s games are enthusiastically played. The islands first competed in the Olympics at the 1952 Summer Games in Helsinki.

There are a number of national parks, marine parks, and nature reserves on the islands. Notable among them are the Saba National Marine Park, which encircles the island and preserves and manages Saba’s coral reef, and Christoffel Park on Curaçao, which covers 7 square miles (18 square km) and showcases the island’s wide variety of natural flora and fauna. Several daily newspapers are published, in Dutch, English, and Papiamentu. There are also a number of local radio and television broadcast stations, and satellite television programming is available.

History

The islands known as the Netherlands Antilles originally were inhabited by Arawak and Carib Indians; the arrival in the early 16th century of the Spanish caused the decimation of the native population. The Dutch, attracted by salt deposits, occupied the islands in the early 17th century, and, except for brief periods of British occupation, the islands have remained Dutch possessions. Through much of the 17th and 18th centuries, the islands prospered from Dutch trade in slaves, plantation products, and contraband, but the economy declined from 1816 until 1914.

Colonial rule

The first Europeans to sight Curaçao were Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci in 1499, and the area was settled in 1527 by the Spanish, who used it mainly for livestock raising. In 1634 Johannes van Walbeeck of the Dutch West India Company occupied and fortified the island, which became the base for a rich entrepôt trade flourishing through the 18th century. During the colonial period, Curaçao was a major Caribbean centre for the transatlantic slave trade.

There were two short periods during the Napoleonic Wars when Curaçao was held by the British, but it was returned to the Netherlands by the Treaty of Paris in 1815. The 19th century was a period of economic decline partially alleviated by the cultivation of aloes and oranges. Only after the construction of the Schottegat oil refinery (opened in 1918), however, did economic conditions improve greatly.

Ojeda and Vespucci also sighted Bonaire during their voyage in 1499. The island was settled by the Spanish in 1501 and claimed by the Dutch in 1634. It became part of the Dutch West India Company in 1636 and remained a government plantation until 1863. From 1807 to 1814 it was under British control.

The island of Saint Martin was sighted by Christopher Columbus on Nov. 11, 1493 (St. Martin’s Day), and was taken by French pirates in 1638. The Spanish settled there in 1640. In 1648 French and Dutch prisoners of war allegedly met after the Spanish departure and amicably divided the island. The Dutch obtained Sint Maarten, the smaller but more valuable southern section, which contained large salt deposits.

Sint Eustatius, first colonized by the French and English in 1625, was taken by the Dutch in 1632. It became the main centre of slave trade in the eastern Caribbean and by 1780 had a population of 2,500. In 1781 the British sacked Oranjestad, and the island never regained its trade. In the 17th and 18th centuries most of the land was under sugarcane cultivation.

Saba was settled by the Dutch in 1632 but, because of its inaccessibility and ruggedness, never achieved any economic importance.

Political developments since World War II

After World War II, negotiations began with the aim of conferring a greater measure of self-government on the islands. On Dec. 15, 1954, the islands were made an autonomous part of the Netherlands. In 1969 Curaçao was torn by labour conflicts that led to riots and arson.

In the late 20th century, politics in the Netherlands Antilles were dominated by three issues: economic problems, the coming of independence, and the degree of autonomy to be afforded each island within the federation. By the mid-1970s it was clear that most of the Netherlands Antilles feared the economic consequences of independence. The Dutch government pressed for independence but insisted on preserving a federated structure embracing all the islands. In an unofficial referendum in 1977, Aruba voted to secede from the Antilles federation but remained within the kingdom; it formally achieved that status in 1986. By 1978 all the islands had accepted the concept of insular self-determination.

In 1989 the political leadership of Sint Maarten announced its desire to achieve full independence in the shortest possible term; secessionist feelings were fueled by animosity toward the central administration in Curaçao. An investigation by the government of the Netherlands into the administration of Sint Maarten resulted in 1993 in the arrest of two prominent leaders on charges of corruption and led to closer supervision by the metropolitan government of the island’s affairs.

In 2006 the people of the islands agreed, along with the Dutch government, to dismantle the Netherlands Antilles, although none of the islands chose independence. On Oct. 10, 2010, St. Maarten and Curaçao became autonomous countries within the Netherlands, and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius became special municipalities of the Netherlands.

nonmetropolitan territory of the Netherlands with one legislative house (Staten, or Parliament [22])1

Head of state

Dutch Monarch represented by Governor

Head of government

Prime Minister

Capital

Willemstad

Official languages

Dutch; Papiamentu2; English

Official religion

none

Monetary unit

Netherlands Antillean guilder (NAf.)

Population

(2010 est.) 204,000

Total area (sq mi)

308

Total area (sq km)

800

1The dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles occurred on Oct. 10, 2010. As of that date, Curaçao and Sint Maarten became separate autonomous states of the Netherlands and Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius were directly integrated into the Netherlands.